Monday, 18 April 2016

Tesco Vegan Haul Taste Test

When it comes to doing our weekly shops we normally alternate between Ocado, Sainsbury's and Tesco's.I find that this works pretty well for us as it means that we get to buy different items from each shop and we don't miss out. Although lately I have been using Ocado a lot more than the others purely because I prefer the quality of their fresh items and they make shopping for vegan food online a lot easier than the others.

Last week however, I decided to go back to Tesco's for a change as I had seen via various tweets that they have some new vegan friendly items in their 'Free From' range which I really fancied trying. It was also a good opportunity to see if Tesco's had improved their overall online shopping experience for vegan food. This was also an opportunity to pick up a couple of other vegan items which I hadn't tried before.

I had some requests to film another vegan taste test on YouTube so I thought there was no better time than now and I decided to put these items to the test. I also roped in my husband Andy to offer a second opinion on everything as I think sometimes two opinions is better than one.

I really hope you all enjoy the video!

Below I have summarised our taste test findings and i've rated each item a score out of 10.

These ice cream cones are really tasty and enjoyable and most definitely my favourite flavour out of the two available. I don't think anyone would ever be able to tell that these cones are vegan! They really are so good. 10/10

These cones were also really nice but as far as flavour goes they weren't as tasty as the strawberry ones. To me they tasted more like vanilla as the toffee wasn't very noticeable. Still a good option though! 8/10

I think we were both surprised by how nice this garlic baguette actually is and it's very similar to Tesco's other dairy garlic baguettes, but maybe a little crunchier. A very good vegan alternative! 8/10

These are so yummy! They contain super soft strawberry ice cream which is delicious and they're covered in a lovely tasting chocolate. I like that they're mini as they work nicely as a small treat if you're watching your calorie intake like me. 9/10

This was a lot nicer than I thought it would be. It definitely comes under the category of vegan junk food for me so it wouldn't be something i'd eat all the time but nice as an occasional treat. It reminded my husband of the McDonalds sausage and egg McMuffin. The bread felt a little artificial which was all that let this product down. 7/10

These are so delicious! A whole packet of these didn't last very long in our house. I don't think you would ever know that these cookies are vegan. Perfect with a cup of tea. 9/10 (on the packet it states suitable for vegetarians but I can't find any ingredients which would mean they're not vegan friendly - let me know if you know different. Tesco's sadly haven't come back to me on this.)

These are a great alternative for chicken burgers or chicken escalopes.They're pretty spicy though so only buy if you don't mind hot food. It's great to see Quorn offering more vegan options in their line of food. 8/10 (* Since my review these appear to have been removed from Tesco's website)

There's a couple of things that annoy me about Tesco's....1. not always labelling vegan friendly food as 'vegan' on their website and instead just 'suitable for vegetarians', and 2. if you type 'vegan' into their grocery search it really doesn't bring up much compared to if you type 'vegan' into Ocado's search. I really wish they would just make this easier as it does put me off shopping with them which is a shame as they clearly have some great products available.

I therefore feel like Tesco's is only a good option is you already know the products that are vegan friendly and you're happy to manually search for them. This is absolutely fine but it really does limit your chances of finding new vegan products if you aren't able to browse an entire vegan section.

If any of you have any requests for any other videos then please do comment below and let me know as I am always looking for new ideas!

Thank you so much for posting this. I find shopping for gluten and dairy free products at Tesco to be a bit of a nightmare unless it's dried goods on the free from isle, otherwise it's a bit of treasure hunt. Now I can go armed with a shopping list! These products all seem really reasonable. Free from food has come a long way ^_^